A Celebration of Life for Michael Sapp, an active member of San Diego’s LGBT recovery community, will be held Saturday, March 14, at 11 a.m. at Kate Sessions Memorial Park, located at 5115 Soledad Road in Pacific Beach. A reception will be held immediately following the celebration across the street from the park at a private residence located at 4950 Lamont St.

Sapp, 48, passed away peacefully surrounded by friends at Sharp Memorial Hospital on March 3rd after a brief but valiant battle with Burkitt’s Lymphoma. Sapp is survived by his partner of 20 years, George Biagi, the former editor-in-chief of the Gay and Lesbian Times.

A full obituary will appear in next week’s issue.

The Board of Directors of the Greater San Diego Business Association (GSDBA) has announced the pending retirement in June of Chief Executive Officer Joyce Marieb.

Marieb has served as head of San Diego’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce for the past nine years. During her tenure, she facilitated the organization’s growth to a current membership of more than 800 businesses and professionals and has been instrumental in GSDBA’s role as a leader among GLBT chambers across the country.

“We are proud of the progress made under Dr. Marieb’s leadership and will miss her when she retires,” said board chair, Michelle Burkart. “She has truly been an extraordinary CEO, contributing her time, talents and drive to the success of GSDBA.”

This year GSDBA celebrates its 30th anniversary. Marieb plans to retire in June.

“This is a good time to celebrate the organization’s growth and accomplishments while looking ahead to a bright future with new leadership,” Marieb said. “It will be an easy transition because of the quality and leadership of the Board. I will miss working with the fine people in our membership.”

A committee has been formed to conduct the search for a new CEO. Information regarding the position is available online at www.gsdba.org.

Graphic artists and those with creative imaginations are invited to submit logo designs for the annual T-shirt contest being held by San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride. The deadline for submissions has been extended to Friday, March 13. Designs must incorporate the Pride logo available on www.sandiegopride.org under “T-shirt contest,” as well as the theme and dates of this year’s Pride weekend: “Stonewall 2.0 – Activism for Equality” – July 18-19, 2009.

The winning designer will receive $250, a T-shirt and two multi-day tickets to the Pride Festival in Balboa Park.

There are no color or style demands; however, Pride Executive Director Ron deHarte hopes designers are inspired by the protest graphics of the 1970s and today’s high-tech grassroots activism. Entries must be received by Friday, March 13, as either a jpeg image (1050 x 1050 pixels, 150 dpi resolution) or mounted on a 15-by-10-inch black board with the image measuring seven-by-seven inches.

In addition to appearing on festival and parade T-shirts, the chosen artwork may also be used in full color and black-and-white in a variety of marketing materials, Pride merchandise and clothing items.

Send submissions to info@sdpride.org or P.O. Box 34366, San Diego, CA 92163. All entries will become the property of San Diego LGBT Pride and will not be returned. For more information, call the Pride office at 619-297-7683.

The Greater San Diego Business Association will present a town hall forum to help business owners and prospective entrepreneurs navigate through today’s struggling economic crisis. The free event is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 10, in The San Diego LGBT Community Center’s auditorium, 3909 Centre St., in Hillcrest.

Open to both GSDBA members and non-members, the forum will be moderated by Joyce Marieb, chief executive officer of the GSDBA. She will be joined by a panel of business experts that includes Vicki Garcia of Marketing Impressions, Tom Welch of Security Business Bank, Michelle Burkart of TH!NKbusiness and David Muscat of State Farm Insurance. Issues pertaining to marketing, sales, financing and networking will be addressed.

“What’s great about GSDBA, as well as our members and the LGBT community, is that when we see a need, we all get involved,” Marieb said. “It’s time to support local businesses and our non-profit organizations. This event is designed to promote conversation and solutions.”

For more information about the forum or GSDBA membership, call 619-296-4543 or visit www.gsdba.org.

Applications for this summer’s 35th annual San Diego Pride parade are now available online by visiting the Pride Web site at: SanDiegoPride.org. The mile-long parade is scheduled for 11 a.m., July 18, starting on University at Normal Street, and continuing west to Sixth Avenue, then south to Upas.

The online application process allows participants to fill out applications and pay entry fees electronically for participation in either the parade or two-day festival in Balboa Park, scheduled for July 18 and 19. The application deadline for both the parade and festival is Tuesday, June 30.

“This year’s parade and festival will likely reach an energy level never seen before in San Diego,” said Pride Executive Director Ron deHarte. “The shocking passage of Prop. 8 last year was responsible for waking a sleeping giant. The success of Prop 8. awoke the inner activist in all of us, young and old alike. The ‘Stonewall 2.0 - Activism for Equality’ theme reflects this surge within our community.”

Parade awards will be given for “best entries” in several categories: best float design that captures this year’s theme; a grand marshal award for the most entertaining and crowd-pleasing float; best nonprofit organization contingent; and a best choreography award for the best marching contingent. All entries must be decorated and incorporate the 2009 theme on signage or through ornamentation.

The Pride parade is San Diego’s largest civic event, attracting more than 160,000 spectators last year along its “rainbow mile” route and nearly 9,000 parade participants. And Pride’s two-day festival attracts 40,000 attendees and hundreds of exhibitors in the Festival Marketplace, plus special attractions and nearly 100 entertainers showcased in nine different performance venues that blanket Marston Point in Balboa Park.

The Pride office is located at 1807 Robinson St., Suite 106. For more information about parade applications, fees and 2008 events, call 619-297-7683, ext. 105, or visit www.sandiegopride.org.

Last year was a great year for San Diego’s mostly gay and lesbian masters swim team, the Different Strokes Swim Team (DSST). In June, the team fielded 29 swimmers at the International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA) Championships in Washington DC, finishing third among the five medium-sized teams, and seventh of the 48 total teams. In September, DSST hosted the second Flaming Gaytor Swim Meet, which welcomed swimmers from Long Beach, San Francisco, and West Hollywood for a weekend of traditional and not-so-traditional swim races. The year was capped off by the annual team banquet in November, where Katy Murphy and Russ Emmons were named the Female and Male Swimmers of the Year and Kristin Liekhus and Rudy Burlin were named the Female and Male Most Improved Swimmers. Misty Cho was named the DSST Coach of the Year.

DSST is set for another big year in 2009. On Sunday, May 3, DSST will host the 19th Annual Bart Hopple Memorial Swim. Named for DSST co-founder and triathlete Bart Hopple, who died due to complications stemming from AIDS, the Bart Hopple Memorial Swim is a one-hour swim that challenges participants to swim as far as they can within a one-hour period. The event is a fund-raiser for San Diego HIV/AIDS service organizations. Over the past 19 years, the event has raised thousands of dollars for local HIV/AIDS service organizations. In late July, DSST swimmers will represent San Diego at the 2009 IGLA Championships, which will coincide with the World Out Games in Copenhagen. DSST will host the third Flaming Gaytor Swim Meet on Sept. 12.

DSST offers six weekly coached practices and welcomes swimmers of all skill levels, both competitive swimmers and fitness swimmers. To learn more about DSST and the team’s program, visit www.dsst.org.